Comparison: GoPro Hero 3 vs Sony Actioncam vs Isaw A2 ACE

Action cams have become very popular recently. They're very compact so they're easy to take with you on holidays and small outings. They're so light you can mount them on clothing or a helmet, and tons of accessories and expansion packs exist for them. The cameras all have a fixed, light-sensitive lens with a very wide 170-degree angle. This enables them to capture everything happening in the foreground. Today we will compare the GoPro Hero 3, Sony Actioncam and Isaw A2 ACE action cameras.

Last year a new player, Sony, entered the market. That's certainly not a company to underestimate in the camera market, with its years of relevant experience. Sony immediately made a statement with the HDR-AS15. A lesser-known name is Isaw, from South Korea. It distinguishes itself with sharp prices. The third contestant is the inventor of this segment, GoPro. The Hero 3 has been refined over several generations, and the Black Edition we tested also has the best specs compared to the competition.

Designing a fair test setup was challenging. The best option would have been to mount all three cameras right next to each other but this wasn't possible, due to their shape - the Isaw and the GoPro use the same type of base, but the Sony Action Cam has a different elongated shape and its own base.

We ended up attaching the Isaw to the flat side of the Sony cam, and fortunately the GoPro Hero 3 can film upside down thanks to the presence of a rotating option in the settings menu. This proved to be very helpful during our car ride.

We were not quite able to get the perspective 100 per cent identical for the three cameras. Synchronising was also a challenge, as there were some minor variances. We synced the videos based on the audio, and while they all lined up in the beginning, after a while they did go out of sync. Nevertheless, we were still able to make a good comparison based on real-life performance. You can read the rest of Comparison: GoPro Hero 3 vs Sony Actioncam vs Isaw A2 ACE on Hardware.info.